


Lucky

by sailorchiron



Series: And the Reason is You [9]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Gratuitous Smut, Humor, M/M, Nebulous Well Adjusted Future Weekend, San Francisco, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:22:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21828919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailorchiron/pseuds/sailorchiron
Summary: What if, in the future, a more well-adjusted Malex wanted to have a nice weekend of FLUFF?
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: And the Reason is You [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539409
Comments: 38
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally started for the Nebulous Well-Adjusted Future Weekend of Possibilities on Tumblr...and I totally missed the deadline. I couldn't give this fic the attention it needed by yesterday. So I'm going to keep working on it in chapter-by-chapter installments. This is mostly fluff. Same universe as Fade Into You, but with older Michael and Alex, they're 25. It's the future! It's well-adjusted! It's a weekend! 
> 
> Fic title: Lucky by Jason Mraz ft. Colbie Caillat

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/sailorchiron/49231455401/in/dateposted-public/)

“You know what we should do?”

“Hm?” Michael answered, rounding Alex’s end of the couch on the way in from the kitchen. He kissed the top of his head and set the cold beer on the coaster on his end table. His computer was open on the rolling laptop table he had by the couch, but he wasn’t doing anything, and his wallpaper was visible. Michael smiled at the pic, it was him and Alex sound asleep in the hammock on Isobel’s back porch. He wasn’t really any better; his was Alex smiling with so much affection that he got shit about it from other people on his team at work. He set his own beer down and settled on the couch. “What should we do?”

Alex smiled at him, happy to be sharing the evening watching Science Channel with Michael. They’d just invested in this couch, their friends had just bitched too much about them still having their leftover college futon in their beautiful house. It was a warm brown leather, big enough that Michael could lay down with his head in Alex’s lap and his knees drawn up (a favorite thinking pose for him), but not long enough that they couldn’t touch each other any time they wanted. Michael returned the smile and stretched out, head on Alex’s thigh. 

“Your hair is extra soft today,” Alex murmured as he worked his fingers through the curls. “The argan oil cream is really helping.”

“Yah, it looks like it’s intentionally crazy now, instead of mad-scientist crazy.”

Alex chuckled. “It’s always been beautiful. It’s just even more beautiful now.”

Michael laughed a little. “So what should we do? Other than play with my hair, which you are never allowed to stop.”

“Never? Just run my fingers through it until my arm falls off?”

“Mhm.”

“Well, if I get a break in the hair-stroking business, I was thinking we should go on a trip.”

He looked up at Alex, meeting his eyes when Alex looked down. “A trip?”

“Yah, not like a long vacation or anything, just a long weekend maybe. Take off Friday and Monday. Go somewhere that’s not Roswell.”

Michael pondered that. “Well, we are gainfully employed adults in stable careers with discretionary income.” This actually sounded like a really good idea. “Where should we go?”

“I don’t know, somewhere really different. Get out of New Mexico for a while.” They currently lived in Santa Fe, both working for an aerospace contractor that was doing things that the US military couldn’t accomplish on their own. Michael was working on rocket propulsion systems, Alex was making sure their secrets _stayed_ secrets. Santa Fe didn’t have the terrain or facilities for actually launching rockets, so Michael traveled at least once a month, but it was only to other parts of New Mexico. They went to Roswell about every six weeks to see Max and Isobel. 

“Not to Vegas again.” 

“No, not Vegas again. That’s still in the desert.” Maria was currently performing with Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. They’d enjoyed that trip too much. Michael Guerin should never be allowed on an indoor rollercoaster while drunk off his ass. _Good thing that we’d driven so we had some nail polish remover in our luggage, I didn’t think he’d ever stop bitching about his head._

“Hmm.” Places to visit that were completely different but doable in four days were scrolling through his head. “Seattle would be completely different, but I don’t think we could do it in a weekend.” 

“The flights would take up whole days,” Alex agreed. “Even if we flew out after work on Thursday night, we’d be too tired to do anything on Friday.”

“And I’d want at least three of the days for hiking.” 

“Agreed. So Seattle is off the table.”

“We can’t go somewhere too outdoorsy, too far away, or too close to home. Should be easy,” Michael joked. 

“You know what, though,” Alex said slowly, “I’d love to see the ocean.”

“That would be amazing. If Seattle is too far, somewhere in California might work.”

“I’m not beachy, do you see yourself as beachy?”

Michael laughed. “Yah, no. Can you see us in LA or something? Well,” he amended, “you’d fit in pretty well.”

Alex laughed. “Okay, cowboy, I’m sure there are people wearing boots in LA.”

“Yah, but you still wear tight jeans with your button ups, and have a black leather jacket.”

“Punk is always in style.” He lightly scratched Michael’s scalp and got a shivery moan out of his boyfriend. “Hey...we could go to San Francisco.”

He thought about that for a minute before sitting up and facing Alex. “That sounds like a fantastic idea.” He cupped his cheek and leaned in to kiss him. “You’ll still fit right in.”

“Is it because I’m a grown-up emo kid or because I’m gay?” Alex laughed. 

“Do I have to choose? Because I feel like both are the wrong answer.” 

Alex shoved him gently, then leaned in for another kiss. “They’re both the right answer.”

“I know we don’t actively _hide_ our relationship around here, but we can probably hold hands the entire time we’re walking around out there.”

“Yah, even in 2015 New Mexico isn’t all that open-minded.” Michael was right, they didn’t hide their relationship, but were careful about holding hands or kissing in public. Santa Fe was an extremely artistic community with a really eclectic population, and in general open to queer relationships, but they were still careful. “I would absolutely love to walk around showing you off.”

“Aw, shucks, darlin’.” 

Alex laughed, Michael always said something like that when he was kind of embarrassed because he’d given him a compliment. “We should look at flights and time off and stuff.”

“There’s really nothing going on in my department right now,” Michael said. “Everything is on hold while we’re waiting for Pentagon approval to work on prototypes.”

“Really?”

Michael nodded. “My design.”

“Why didn’t you tell me!” Alex launched himself at Michael and they fell over backwards onto the couch cushions, laughing. “You didn’t tell me they submitted _your design to the Pentagon.”_

“I found out today, and I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, but fuck, if anyone deserves to know, it’s you, baby.” He pulled Alex down into a kiss that went on for _a while._ “I couldn’t have gotten this far without you, Alex. I love you.”

“I couldn’t have gotten this far without _you._ I love you so much, Michael.” He leaned down to kiss him again. “This isn’t the most comfortable position we’ve ever ended up in.”

Laughing, Michael pushed on Alex’s shoulders and helped him move without falling or hurting either of them. “You don’t know how hard it was to hold that secret in for three hours.”

“Michael, I’m so _proud_ of you.” He took both of his hands. “Now I want to take you on a trip as congratulations.”

“I’ll accept that.” He planted a quick kiss on Alex’s smiling lips. “Wanna look at flights for us while I make dinner?”

“You don’t have to make dinner, I can. You’re celebrating.”

“Not yet, they might reject the proposal. Besides, I stopped and got the stuff to make chicken tacos on the way home.”

“As much as I wish we were on the same schedule so we could carpool again, I can’t lie and say I don’t like how often you stop and get dinner in the hour before I get off work.”

Michael got off the couch, and repeated his kiss to the top of Alex’s head as he headed into the kitchen. The sun was coming in the French doors to the patio from the family room, making the cobalt tiles around the fireplace glow and enhancing the warmth of the terracotta floor. They’d acquired quite a few nice art pieces for their walls and mantel. There were plenty of pictures up there, too, from their graduation, the two of them kissing the day they’d bought the house, pics with Max and Isobel, a group picture of Alex with Liz and Maria, and a really artistic photo of Michael’s and Alex’s hands clasped and almost entirely in shadow with the setting sun behind them. A friend had taken it when they were in college for a school publication, and it was so pretty they’d gotten a professional print of it. The old beam that made their mantel matched the ones on the ceiling in this part of the house. When they’d asked Isobel to come see the house before they bought it, she’d been speechless about how pretty it was. She’d helped them find a lot of the furniture and decorations, too. The three of them had spent far too much time at antique shops and flea markets to fill the old, character-filled home, having discovered a mutual love of antiquing. 

Cooking had become something of a meditative experience for Michael since they’d originally moved out of the dorms and into their own place with a real kitchen. He and Alex cooked together a lot, actually, it was a way they bonded. They both liked cooking for each other, though, and took turns making dinner. Michael was permanently ahead in the competition of who could spoil the other more, since he woke up early and made Alex breakfast in bed at least every month. On the rare occasion that Alex was up before him, he’d always wake him with coffee and sweet kisses that led to lazy morning sex. 

While the chicken, onions, peppers, and spices were sizzling, Michael sliced avocados and got the cheese out of the fridge. Alex really liked cotija cheese, and it was kinda hard to find. They never got store-bought tortillas anymore, they pretty much always had them on hand from the tortilleria that one of his coworker’s mom’s owned. 

“Hey, sweetheart.” 

Michael smiled when hands came to rest on his hips from behind, and soft lips kissed the side of his neck. “There’s a really good deal on airfare in three weeks if we leave Thursday and come back late Sunday night/Monday morning. We’d have to fly in and out of Albuquerque, but it’s affordable.”

“It’s only an hour drive. What time out on Thursday?”

“8:33, so enough time to leave at 5 and get there in time.”

“We’ll just have to carpool and you can deal with being up an hour earlier.”

Alex laughed and moved away. “If they hadn’t nixed us just hanging out for those extra hours, I’d always go in at 7 with you.”

“Well, to be fair,” Michael argued, gesturing with the spatula, “We work in a high-security facility and are not good at not working off the clock.” 

“Those are valid points. And just sitting in the car until my shift has very little appeal.”

Turning off the flame, Michael scooped the meat and vegetables into the waiting tortillas. “I got out the cheese, but I didn’t cut up a lime, I forgot.” 

“Do we even have any?” Alex poked around in the random produce container, which was a fancy enamel colander that had been a gift from Mimi and was utterly useless because it couldn’t go in the dishwasher. “We have one, sad, lonely lime.” He pulled out a cutting board and a knife and sliced it into wedges. “Those smell extra spicy.”

“Just for you, babe.” 

“You didn’t make them too spicy for _you_ , did you?” He looked at Michael. “You don’t need to suffer so I can enjoy dinner.”

“Nah, not too spicy.” He kissed Alex’s cheek. “But don’t think I’ll ever make you anything with ghost peppers.”

Alex laughed. “My one ghost pepper experience was enough, never again.” He added avocado to his tacos. “I’m so glad I could get ice cream immediately.”

“Alex, that burger had fried jalapenos, sliced habaneros, and ghost pepper sauce. You’re lucky you just needed ice cream and not an ambulance.”

“Don’t forget the fire jack cheese on it.” Alex headed around the counter to sit on the bar side. “And the hot sauce I’d already put all over my fries.”

Michael sat on the stool beside him. “I’ve never seen anyone drink a milkshake that fast.”

“I very much regretted my life choices that night.” Alex took a bite of his taco. “These are perfect. I love that my boyfriend can cook.”

“I have to agree with both statements.” The tacos _were_ perfect, and he _also_ had a boyfriend who could cook. “You can make dinner tomorrow night.” 

“How do you feel about salmon tomorrow? We need to use that piece of fish.”

“I completely forgot we had it, and salmon sounds great.”

Alex laughed. “Did you ever think we’d be so fucking domestic?”

“No,” Michael laughed. “No, I did not. Now we just need a dog.”

“Well, Mimi did predict that there’d be a beagle in my life during our last trip to Roswell.”

“Yah, but I feel like that’s going to be a cosmic circumstance. Not the same as getting a nice fluffy puppy because we can’t get pregnant.”

Alex choked when he started to laugh while swallowing beer, and Michael pounded on his back, even though both of them knew that it really didn’t do anything to help. They both continued to laugh until Alex asked, “Were you trying to get pregnant? I know we’ve got limited info on your alien physiology and all, but--” 

Michael covered Alex’s laughing mouth with his hand, laughing himself. “Shut up if you ever want to get laid again, Alex Manes.” He narrowed his eyes. “Licking my hand will not get me to move it faster.” 

Still laughing, and hand-licking unsuccessful, Alex batted his long eyelashes at Michael, which just made the other man laugh more. _Kissing_ Michael’s palm worked, though, and he took his hand away. “I have so many more ways to be an asshole about this topic, I can’t believe you’re threatening me with enforced celibacy.” 

“Strictly enforced, and you’ll be sleeping on the couch.”

Alex was still giggling when he leaned over and kissed Michael’s cheek. “Sorry, sweetheart, I won’t bring this up again until you’ve forgotten this incident.”

“You’re such a dick,” Michael laughed, standing up and walking to the fridge. “Do you want another beer?”

“No I’m good. Thanks.”

They finished their tacos and Michael sat at the counter and talked to Alex while he did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. He’d learned within the first week of living together that he’d never get the kitchen clean enough by Alex’s standards and to just let him clean it every night. Not that Michael ever left it disgusting, he always put things away and wiped up any messes he made, but Alex was going to disinfect every surface before bed if the kitchen had been cooked in that day. Kitchen bleaching had joined bathroom bleaching in Alex’s list of Sunday chores. 

“You know you don’t have to sit there and watch me scrub the skillet, right?” It was an old argument, he didn’t see any reason for Michael to have to sit through him doing the dishes, and Michael felt like Alex deserved company. If Alex cooked, Michael helped him clean up, but he didn’t expect his boyfriend to just hang out to watch him do battle with pots and pans.

“Maybe you just look sexy covered with greasy suds,” he teased. 

“Well, this is going to need to soak, so I’m just about done here.”

“Did I mess up the pan?”

Alex shook his head. “Huh uh, it’s just going to be easier to clean it if I let water and soap loosen up the food.” Isobel had gifted them some ridiculously posh cookware for their housewarming. “If I let it soak for like an hour it’ll come clean in like 30 seconds. Go,” he shooed him out of the kitchen. “Go watch TV, I’ll be there in like five minutes.”

Laughing, Michael vacated the kitchen. He went to the bedroom to change into a pair of Alex’s pajama pants (some things never change) and an old t-shirt before depositing himself back on the couch and grabbing the remote. It was Tuesday, and _Expedition Unknown_ was going to be on, and it was kind of their favorite reality show. They’d been skeptical about it when it had premiered in January, but it was actually fantastic purely because Josh Gates was hysterical. It was already set to record just in case they got distracted. 

Michael was fully focused on the previous week’s episode when Alex dropped down onto his lap, straddling him. He grinned up at his mischievous face. “Something I can help you with Mr. Manes?”

“Hmm, I think so,” Alex murmured, voice low, before kissing him _thoroughly._ When he pulled back, Michael inhaled with an audible gasp. “Hmm, I think I would very much like it if you would fuck me.”

Groaning, Michael’s hands tightened on Alex’s ass. “I very much think I’d enjoy that. Do you wanna do that here?”

Alex chuckled. “No, this couch is too new. Bedroom.” He stood from Michael’s lap carefully, and grabbed his hands to pull him up. “Now.”

Michael laughed, breathless, amused and turned on at the same time...something that happened a lot with Alex. And Alex clearly meant business, because he didn’t stop to turn off any lights in the house, just dragged Michael to the bedroom and started pulling his own clothes off. He just stood and watched as Alex unbuttoned his shirt before realizing he could divest himself of his own clothes. He still had his eyes on Alex. “God you look sexy.”

He threw his shirt on the floor and started on his jeans. “You always look sexy.” Jeans and underwear off, Alex dropped down on the bed, leaning back on his elbows and watching Michael come toward him. “Come on, cowboy.” He tossed Michael a sassy look and smiled.

“Oh, I am,” Michael answered and crawled over him, caging Alex in his arms before lowering his head to kiss him. He smiled as he pulled away, feeling Alex’s hands on his back. “What do you want?”

Alex speared his hands through Michael’s hair and pulled him back down for another kiss. He was borderline desperate. “I just need you inside me.” 

Michael groaned and bit at his lips, mouthing over his neck and down to his collarbone. They were about 50/50 on top and bottom, well, more like 60/40, because sometimes Alex just _craved_ it. He sucked on the skin, knowing he was going to leave a mark, and that Alex wouldn’t care. More than likely, Alex would pretend to be annoyed but actually be pleased with the bruised evidence of being Michael’s. He released the abused skin, seeing it was already red, and dug in the bedside table for lube. “Have you been thinking about it for a while, baby?”

“All day,” Alex groaned. “I woke up wanting you to fuck me but we didn’t have time.”

“I’ll try to make up for making you wait all day.” He pressed two fingers into Alex, listening to him moan. “Good?”

“God, not enough,” he complained, stretching up to catch Michael’s lips again. “Fuck, more.”

“You’re going to be sore.” Michael pushed in with a third finger, catching the wince on Alex’s face before it melted into relief. “Really sore.”

“I know,” Alex breathed out on a moan. “Don’t care.” 

Michael would argue, but he knew Alex actually liked being a little sore the next day. He’d said it made him think of him, and sex with him, all day long. And fuck if Michael didn’t think that was hot. “What position do you want, baby?” 

It took Alex a few moments to be able to speak. “Can I ride you? Don’t wanna come too fast.”

“Fuck, yes,” Michael groaned. He pulled his fingers out, grinning when Alex whined, and flopped over on his back. “Come ‘ere.” 

Alex forced himself to sit up then climb over Michael’s flat stomach. “Where’s the lube?”

He felt around for it and pushed it into Alex’s hands. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Maybe not,” Alex answered truthfully. Sore was one thing, actual pain was another thing entirely. He crawled forward a little and Michael pushed his fingers back inside him. “God that feels good.”

Michael worked him open, listening to Alex make more and more desperate sounds. “Fuck, Alex, I’m going to come from the noises you’re making.”

Laughing breathlessly, Alex pulled himself up with the help of the headboard. “I’m good, here.” He squirted lube into his hand and stroked Michael’s hard cock, listening to him moan. “You know I’ve never been able to be quiet.”

“And that’s the opposite of a problem,” he confirmed, taking himself in hand. “Ready?”

“Yah.” He covered Michael’s hand to position him, and felt Michael relocate both of his hands to his hips. He sank down onto his cock, taking it in one long, slow slide, eyes falling closed and head dropping back. “Yes.” It was a long, exhaled sigh of a word that expressed the bone-deep bliss he felt when Michael was inside him. “Fuck that’s good.” 

Michael just groaned, fingers tight on Alex’s body, toes curling with pleasure. “Baby.” 

He just nodded and started moving. It took him a minute to get it just right, but when he did, he moaned loud enough the neighbors might have heard him.

“That working for you baby?” Michael asked breathlessly, voice low. Watching Alex just take the pleasure he wanted was so unbelievably hot. His hands roamed over his body, through the thin hair on his chest, over the lush swell of his ass, along the strong muscles of his thighs. “You’re so gorgeous Alex.”

He couldn’t answer. Alex used the headboard for leverage to grind down with more force, grinning with a breathless laugh at Michael’s muffled “fuck.” 

Although he was aware that the original plan here with this position was that they wouldn’t finish too soon, fuck if Michael wasn’t close. He wrapped his hand around Alex’s dripping cock, knowing his orgasm wasn’t far off and wanting his boyfriend to come with him. The breathless shout he got in response was all the feedback he needed. “Come for me,” he murmured, knowing Alex would hear him.

“Fuck, Michael, yes!” He kept rocking his hips as he came, loving the feel of Michael inside of him even as he was getting too sensitive. “Your turn.” He moaned when he gripped his hips hard and thrust up into him hard until he came too. “God that’s good.” He liked that not-quite-pain feeling that he got when Michael kept fucking him after he’d already orgasmed. Alex couldn’t hold himself up any longer, though, and fell forward over Michael’s chest, panting. When he felt Michael’s hands on on his back, he forced himself to lift up enough to kiss him. And keep kissing him with breaks for panting and happy sounds that didn’t have a real name. “I love you so much,” he breathed against Michael’s lips. “Love you,” he repeated after another kiss. “Love you.”

“I’ve loved you from day one, baby.” Alex’s sleepy weight on his chest was one of his favorite things. “Since day one.”

Alex sighed happily. “Since day one.” He moved carefully as Michael’s softening cock slid free of his body, moaning softly at the sensation, and laid down beside him, head on his chest. He traced invisible patterns on Michael’s warm skin, not ready for the intimacy to end. 

“Wanna take a shower?”

“Huh uh.” Alex dragged his fingers through the mess on Michael’s stomach and kissed his chest. “I really want to lay here and cuddle and make out until we’re hard again and have more sex.”

Michael groaned. “No argument from me.” He laughed softly when Alex nipped at the skin on his chest. “You are the horniest person I’ve ever met.” He moaned when Alex’s mouth moved to his nipple. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“You inspire me to greater heights of horniness every day,” Alex teased, smiling when Michael laughed. He kissed his way up Michael’s neck to his jaw, then moved so he could kiss him again. He sighed into the kiss when Michael rolled onto his side so they could hold each other closer, and he sank into the warm haze of sensuality that surrounded them and their lazy, loving kisses and soft sounds of pleasure. It was true that he’d loved this man since he’d walked into his life and he never wanted to have a minute without him; he knew Michael felt the same. If soulmates existed, Alex was sure that Michael was his.

Kissing led to soft touches that slipped into content dozing on and off, until the soft movement of Michael’s thumb on Alex’s lower abdomen started to have a much-desired effect on him. Alex was ticklish, and on certain parts of his body, that resulted in arousal rather than annoyance. Below the belly button was one of those areas. Alex hummed in pleasure and stretched before moving Michael’s hand where he really wanted it, earning him a filthy chuckle. 

“You need me to touch you,” Michael murmured. “You were thinking about it all day.” He teased the sensitive skin with gentle stroking fingers, no pressure. “You’re not even hard yet.”

“Won’t take long.” Alex arched into the gentle touch. “I always need you.” He opened his eyes, hoping all of his love was visible on his face.

“I’ll always be here.” Michael kissed him softly. Alex’s love was a constant, but he never took it for granted. 

Alex threaded his fingers through Michael’s soft hair and deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into his mouth, dragging his nails lightly along his scalp, moaning with him as Michael tightened his grip on Alex’s cock. “Fuck, that’s good.” He slid his hand down Michael’s body and take him in hand, stroking. He was hard, and still slick from the first time. 

“Want me to fuck you again?” He grinned when Alex groaned. “I can take that as a yes?”

“It’s a ‘fuck yes,’” Alex laughed. He sighed happily when Michael rolled on top of him and positioned himself. He was sensitive in the best way, and when Michael pushed in, he moaned. No pain, just tingly pleasure. “Yes.” 

This time it was slow and lazy, breathy kisses and soft sighs. It always lasted longer the second time, and they luxuriated in the intimacy and pleasure that built slowly with so little urgency. Eventually Alex needed to come, and started begging Michael for more, harder, and they finished together, happy, sated, and desperately in need of showers and clean sheets. 

They didn’t always have the luxury of showering together, but did tonight, and enjoyed washing each other’s hair and bodies. One of the upgrades they’d made to the house was in the master bathroom; it had been pretty dated and they’d decided to have it remodeled before they moved in. Alex, especially, loved hot water and had wanted a fancy shower and a big tub for soaking. It made showering a pleasure.

Alex noticed the hickey on his collar bone in the mirror and pretended to be annoyed (he was never annoyed as long as he could cover it up for work). They changed the sheets with sleep trying to drag them down unmercifully, but somehow managed to get the bed made and into it without falling on the floor. Michael tried to picture his phone on the table in the living room, and brought it to himself carefully. Alarms set, they both passed out.


	2. Chapter Two

Michael was at his desk, deep in his email when his phone buzzed under a pile of paper and he pulled it out. 

_Alex: #noregrets_

He snorted. 

_Michael: Having a hard time sitting still?_

_Alex: Lets just say I’ll be thinking about you A LOT today_

Michael smothered laughter. 

_Michael: Are you okay though?_

_Alex: Yes_

_Alex: #worthit_

_Alex: Look at getting time off today_

_Michael: What days again?_

_Alex: 3/20 and 3/23_

_Michael: I’ll get back to you in less than an hour baby._

_Alex: ❤_

Alex pulled up the department calendar, and no one else was off for those days. It was still cold pretty much everywhere except Florida, so no one was begging for vacations. It wasn’t spring break yet in Santa Fe, so no one was asking for time off to take their kids somewhere. No one was going to take time off for skiing with Taos and Angelfire available every weekend. Alex laughed to himself thinking about teaching Michael to ski. It had been _hilarious._ He was good at it now, but had _not_ started out gracefully. He got up from his desk and headed to this supervisor’s office. 

He tapped on the open door and got a grunt and head nod from Skinner that he interpreted as an invitation to come in. No one was actually sure what Skinner’s first name was, it’s not like intelligence experts had business cards. He didn’t have an email signature, just put ‘--S’ at the bottom of the message. He only called people by their last names.

“What is it, Manes?” He didn’t look away from the array of monitors he had on his desk.

“I’m taking the 20th and 23rd off.”

“What? Why?” Skinner looked at him, concerned. “Why do you need time off?”

Alex cocked an eyebrow at him. “Because I want to take two days off to go out of town.” His tone said ‘it’s none of your business’ and his face probably said the same thing.

“Who’s going to run your projects while you’re gone? You’re my best coder, you can’t just _leave.”_

“I’m taking off two days. Not two months. My projects will survive me taking a long weekend.” Alex suppressed a laugh at the look of disbelief on his boss’s face. “You do realize that we have vacation time, right? That we’re allowed to take time off?” 

“But what could you possibly need to do that would take more than the weekend? I wouldn’t even give you all weekends if I could.”

“That’s a comforting thought. I’m going out of town with my boyfriend.”

Skinner’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve met him numerous times. Michael Guerin? We’re going on a trip for fun.”

“Guerin is your boyfriend? Why do you need to go on a trip to see him?”

Alex couldn’t help but laugh at how very obtuse his supervisor was. “Believe it or not, Skinner, people like to go places to have fun and spend time together.” It made him wonder how long it had been since Skinner had gone on a vacation. He wondered if Skinner even went home on weekends. 

“What if there’s an emergency?”

“How can a program that’s being built have an emergency? I’m not tracking intelligence right now, I’m designing a new protocol.”

“Oh.” Skinner frowned harder than usual. “I guess I can’t say no.”

“Great, I’ll turn the paperwork in to personnel.” 

He had a text from Michael when he got back to his desk.

_Michael: 3/20 and 3/23 scheduled off._

_Michael: The weather forecast for San Francisco is cold with a chance of colder._

Alex laughed softly.

_Alex: It’s wet too_

_Alex: But its not NM_

_Alex: Skinner was so confused about me wanting time off_

_Michael: Why? You’ve had time off before._

_Alex: He’s confused every time_

_Alex: I think there might be a bedroom and bathroom behind a secret panel in his office_

_Alex: He just lives here_

_Michael: 😂_

_Michael: My supervisor just signed the request form without looking at it._

_Alex: Does Snowden ever know what’s going on?_

_Michael: Not really. As long as there are things that catch on fire he’s happy._

_Alex: 🙄_

_Michael: Lunch at 11:30?_

_Alex: I’ll meet you in the staff room_

_Alex: Love you 😘_

_Michael: Love you too 😍_

The staff room was empty when Alex walked in, and was happy to greet Michael with a kiss. They didn’t hide their relationship, but they also didn’t kiss in front of people, mostly because it was unprofessional. His team was more inclined to office gossip than Michael’s, so they all knew a fair amount about their relationship, but they still didn’t do PDA in the office. No matter how much they wanted to. Unlike some of their teammates that occasionally worked late nights, they’d never had sex on site. Unless you counted the parking lot. And that was only _once._

“I picked up some sandwiches on the way in, since we were otherwise occupied and didn’t make lunch last night.” Michael had a suggestive eyebrow raised. 

Alex grinned. “Good thinking. I can’t say that I’m sad we missed out on lunch making.”

“You’re a menace.”

“You love it.” 

Michael laughed. “I do.” He settled at the table closest to the windows with the sandwiches, chips, and two sodas. 

Sitting carefully, which drew a snicker from Michael, Alex took the turkey sub and plain potato chips, knowing the overflowing Italian sub and Cool Ranch Doritos were Michael’s. “It’s a good thing the convenience store by the house has sandwiches.”

“At 6:30 they’re just dropping off the fresh ones.” Michael produced mayonnaise, a cup of jalapenos, and a tiny bottle of Cholula from the bag. “Snagged from the nacho counter.” 

“I knew I loved you,” Alex joked, taking the peppers and hot sauce. If they went to a sub place, Alex put every pepper imaginable on his sandwich. He could eat it without, but it just wasn’t the same.

The room was crowded when their hour was up, and they just squeezed each other’s hands before heading back to their respective departments. Wednesday was one of Michael’s office days, as opposed to R & D lab days. The team had a little free time, since their plans were just submitted, so Michael was working on one of his original ship designs, transferring it from paper to the computer. He figured everyone in the department had a side project. He knew for a fact that Roberta and Devin were building fighting robots and that Jordon was just 3-D printing random stuff to see what he could make. So far the eagle talon back scratcher was the biggest hit.

It was about time to go when Alex texted him again.

_Alex: Flights booked_

_Alex: It’s funny_

_Alex: Every member of my family is in the AF_

_Alex: This is the 4th time I’ve been on an airplane_

Michael laughed to himself. 

_Michael: And the only time that’s not for one of your brothers._

Alex had flown to Flint’s and Chris’s weddings, and to see Evan in the hospital in Washington DC when he shattered his leg in combat. 

_Michael: I was in an actual spaceship crash and this will be flight numero dos for me._

In college, the robotics team had gone to a competition in Florida and slaughtered the competition. Alex had been pissed that he’d dropped off the team that semester because his workload was killing him. 

_Alex: That’s pretty insane_

_Alex: You experienced interstellar travel_

_Alex: But on Earth you’ve been to Gainesville_

_Michael: Not even a good part of FL._

_Alex: We could take a week and go to Disney and Universal next year_

_Alex: This can be a practice vacation_

Michael laughed out loud. 

_Michael: You want to go to Star Wars Land._

_Alex: And Harry Potter_

_Alex: And ride all the rides_

_Michael: And get horribly sunburned_

_Alex: Sunscreen is a thing and you love rides_

_Michael: I can’t deny that._

_Alex: It’s 4 go home sweetheart 😘_

_Michael: Want me to stop and get anything for dinner?_

_Alex: No go home_

_Alex: You don’t have to go to the store every day_

_Alex: Relax and enjoy some alone time ❤_

_Michael: ❤_

One of the things they’d established early in their relationship was that they had to have time to themselves to keep from going nuts. In college, their different schedules had worked that into the equation automatically; once they graduated they’d had an honest discussion about how they needed space from each other sometimes. There hadn’t been any hurt feelings, they’d already seen the absolute worst of each other and known they couldn’t be in each other’s pockets all the time. They both had friends that weren’t mutual, they both had hobbies of their own, and they took time away from each other when they needed it. Michael thought it was because they’d been 100% committed to making their relationship work since day one, and had always made efforts to think of each other, and tried to maintain healthy boundaries. During their second year of college, they’d both started going to therapy for their horrible childhoods, and had used what they’d learned to make their relationship better. 

Tired of looking at a computer, Michael opted for a beer on the patio with a fire and a blanket when he got home. He’d put a lot of effort into making the patio and backyard comfortable and beautiful. Landscape architecture turned out to be both an unknown skill and an unexpected pleasure, and he’d thoroughly enjoyed creating a magazine-worthy oasis behind the house. The outdoor furniture had been Alex’s contribution, and it was perfect. He’d also requested the firepit, and that had been a fantastic idea. More than one barbeque under the string lights had continued long into the night with music, friends, and flames.

“Hey sweetheart,” Alex greeted softly, happy to see Michael enjoying the firepit and looking totally chill for a change. He got wound up during the week with too many thoughts in his brilliant head. “Dinner will be ready in about five.” He’d changed and started cooking without disturbing his boyfriend once he’d glanced out the back door and seen that he was in deep contemplation of the flames. 

Michael started a little, and looked over at Alex with a smile. “You should have told me, I would have helped.”

“Nope, it was my turn to cook and your turn to relax.” He smiled happily when Michael stood and came over for a kiss. “Wanna eat out here by the fire?”

“Yah, great idea, baby.”

Salmon with lemon and dill was just as good under the stars as in the dining room. 

“We should look at hotels,” Alex suggested over washing dishes. “Any preferences? Ideas? Thoughts?”

“Well,” Michael began, “Since we’re saving money on the flights, maybe a bed and breakfast or something? Not a big hotel chain, something cozier.”

“I like that idea.” Alex finished loading the dishwasher and started it. “Maybe a historic property? Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“Like one of the old Victorian houses, yah.” 

Alex walked around the bar to kiss Michael where he was sitting to keep him company. “Let’s go look at what’s available.” 

They settled on the couch, Alex’s computer open for research, Michael leaning against him. “I will never type as fast as you do.”

“Nope.” Alex was proud of his 83 word-per-minute typing speed. “These prices really aren’t as insane as I thought.” 

“Insane, but not for San Francisco, I guess.”

“I think this one.” Alex pointed to the first B&B on the list. “Parker Guest House.”

“Where is it compared to everything?”

“It doesn’t really matter,” Alex answered, “San Francisco is actually pretty small by the square mile, and they have awesome public transit.” 

“It’s in the Castro district.”

“Well I am gay.” Alex grinned when Michael laughed. “Come one, we have to.”

“Okay, okay.” Michael wasn’t actually bothered in any way, he just loved giving Alex shit. “I’ll be extra bi while we’re there.”

“You’d better. Want me to book the room or do you want to wait?”

“Go for it. We for sure know they won’t care that we’re both dudes.”

Alex laughed. “Ya think?” Not for the first time, Alex was glad he had his credit card number memorized so he didn’t have to get up. “It’s done! We’ve got tickets and a place to stay.”

“What should we do while we’re there, aside from be as queer as possible?”

“I don’t think we have to be as queer as possible, I mean, we’ve discussed that neither one of us wants to do drag.”

“Okay, almost as queer as possible.” Michael watched Alex Google things to do. “I mean, there are some no-brainers, we have to walk the Golden Gate Bridge and ride a cable car.” 

“Definitely.” Alex clicked on one of the lists of off-beat things to do. “Oh fuck.”

“An antique vibrator museum?” Michael was delighted. “We have to go.” 

Groaning, Alex clicked on the link and they read through the little blurb about the museum. “I had no idea that vibrators were introduced in the Victorian era.” 

“See? This is why we have to go.”

Alex started a document to list their ideas. “Well, we have to go through Japantown and Chinatown.” 

“What’s the Exploratorium?” They read through the little article. “That sounds really fun, drinking and playing games and doing science.”

“Alcohol and science are a great combination,” Alex agreed, and added it to the list. “What about just hiking around in Golden Gate Park? Go to the different parks and museums?” 

“That would be cool.” Michael kissed Alex’s shoulder. “Let’s just play the rest by ear, okay? We don’t want too many rigid plans.” 

Alex nodded. “There are lots of bars and restaurants to go to, we can just walk down the street and see what looks good.” He was still scrolling through the list of things to do. “Dude, we have to go to Treasure Island, there are so many episodes of Mythbusters filmed there.”

Michael laughed. “That’s a 100% for sure item, then.” 

“We can always look for things to do once we’re already there. And I want to enjoy spending time with you, not run from place to place on a schedule.” 

“Same here.” Michael shifted so that he could stretch out with his head in Alex’s lap. “I’m looking forward to this.” 

Alex looked down at Michael. “Me too.” At that moment, he was a little overwhelmed with how much he loved this man. “I love you, sweetheart.”

Michael took Alex’s hand and kissed his fingers. “I love you too.”

“Think we’ll ever stop feeling like this is brand new and we’re high on each other?”

“I hope not. Nothing tops walking into your department and getting butterflies when I see you.”

“I like that, too.” He ran his fingers through Michael’s soft hair. “I get excited to see you every time we’re away from each other for more than, like, a couple hours.”

“Me too.” 

They were quiet for a little while, listening to the TV talk to itself and just enjoying the contented silence between them. They didn’t feel the need to fill every minute with conversation. Part of a good relationship was being able to be together comfortably without talking. Michael felt like there was a connection between them, and they didn’t always need to talk to communicate. 

“Sweetheart, wake up.”

Michael cracked open an eye, not realizing he’d fallen asleep. “Shit, sorry.” He sat up but it took some serious effort. “How long was I out?”

“Almost an hour. Wanna just go to bed?”

He yawned. “That sounds great.” He stretched. “Wait, are you joining me?”

Alex chuckled. “Yes. Even if I wasn’t tired, I want to snuggle with you.”

“Mm, good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of these chapters will be short. Not a lot of meat needed in a chapter of a fic that is 99% candy floss.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More cuteness. I haven't finished chapter four yet, so it will be a little while before the next installment.

“Do you have everything packed?”

Michael looked up from tying his shoes. “Yep, double checked before I got in the shower. I’d forgotten extra socks.”

“I packed extra pajama pants.” Alex shook his head when Michael laughed. “I buy you pants. You still take mine.” 

“I like yours better.”

“You, my love, are a giant dork.”

“Nope.” Michael double checked his hair. “You are a giant dork. I’m more of a mid-sized dork.” 

“Huh uh.” Alex kissed the side of his neck. “Let’s load the car and go to work.”

“I’m going to have a hard time concentrating today.”

“Same here,” Alex laughed. “I’m glad airline tickets are electronic and therefore cannot be lost.”

“I’m glad we both already had passports in case we had to flee the country.”

“Or, you know, have to go abroad for work.”

“Nah.”

Alex decided he had no desire to sit in the car until 8:00 and settled in the break room with a quick kiss for Michael and his iPad. The weather was, of course, threatening rain in San Francisco. They’d have to buy umbrellas when they got there, since they couldn’t take them as carry on. A lot of teasing from Michael had forced Alex to to pare down his selected wardrobe for the trip. His love of clothes had been a source of amusement for Michael since the day they met.

Work was painfully slow.

Building a new operating protocol was a lot like putting together a Lego structure with no instructions and every brick the same color until you’re finished. That was the challenge of it, and it was what Alex _loved._ No details about _who,_ but _someone_ was starting to undermine the counterintelligence measures the military was currently using, and the patches they were doing themselves were like off-brand bandaids. They didn’t stay stuck. Alex was starting from scratch instead of trying to fix what was clearly insufficient. There were a lot of rumors flying around, but no definite answers about _who_ was snooping. A certain presidential candidate was really fucking things up in the intelligence world, though, and Alex was fairly certain this new protocol he was writing was _not_ going to be shared with anyone in the future with questionable friends whether he won the election or not.

At 4:06, Michael badged into Alex’s ‘lab’ and walked through the cubicle maze to his station. Alex was a team lead, so he had a bigger cubicle that was separate from the others. There was enough room for one extra chair inside, ostensibly so Alex could do reviews with his team, but that also meant Michael could spend the next hour bullshitting with Alex and the people on his team. Camille and Rena were standing behind him laughing, so it was clear that his boyfriend was really hard at work.

“What’s funny?”

The two women looked at him, still laughing. “Alex is the king of memes.”

“I just pass them on,” Alex replied modestly. “I don’t make them myself.”

“That’s bullshit, I see you on your computer every single day. You’re Tumblr famous.”

Alex tipped his head back to grin at Michael. “You can’t prove anything.”

“Yah, I can.” Alex’s Tumblr username was a closely held secret. “Two-factor authentication isn’t a thing for Tumblr yet.”

“Damn it.” Alex didn’t even pretend to be upset. “How was your afternoon?”

“Good. I think I’ll be able to 3-D print a mini version of my ship prototype next week.”

“I can’t wait to see it.”

Michael noticed Rena and Camille looking at him. “I design spaceships for fun.”

“With scale technical drawings for every aspect from hull design to quarters to engines to how to power said engines to drag coefficients.”

“You designed engines for a spaceship?” Rena grinned. “Do you think they would actually work?”

“Why do you think I’m an engineer? I want to make them work.”

“When we build colonies on Mars, we’re going to go in ships Michael designs.” Alex was intensely proud of the man he loved. 

“Aw, shucks, darlin’.”

Rena and Camille laughed and headed back to their stations. Michael quickly seated himself in the ‘interrogation’ chair as he called it. “If I go to Mars,” he started, grinning when Alex laughed, “If I go to Mars, first of all, I’d come back to Earth. But then,” he dropped his voice, “I’d be the only person on the planet to have been on three planets.”

“Okay, that’s incredibly cool and a huge incentive for you to work for NASA.”

“I’ll put it on my application.”

“I’d move to Florida for you, you know.”

“I don’t know if I’d move to Florida for me, though. It’s _Florida.”_

Alex laughed. “Three planets…”

“Jaime might take a design into space before I do, he’s still working for SpaceX.” His college friend Jaime had been desperate to get out of New Mexico as soon as he graduated, and when his then-girlfriend-now-wife Sophia’s family had offered them a place to stay until they got jobs, he’d jumped at the chance. She was a special ed teacher now, and they had two dogs that had their own Instagram.

“I’m just saying, we could go to Disney World any time if you worked for NASA.” 

Michael laughed. “Sure.” He looked around first, then leaned over to kiss Alex’s cheek. “You’re cute.”

“Aw, thanks. You’re pretty cute yourself.”

“What are you working on, besides memes?”

“Showing Rena and Camille what to do tomorrow and Monday on the project. I’m doing most of the work on this, the team is support, and I asked them to debug code tomorrow after they finish with their own projects. Monday I want them to run a sim on what we have so far and see what crashes so I can fix it next week.”

“So their assignment is to see if it needs to be fixed, break it, then leave the mess for you.” 

“It doesn’t sound as good when you put it that way.” Alex was clicking through some kind of Google form. “I want to see if the--” He looked at Michael. “I want to see if they can break the skeleton of it, because it’s _not_ mine. Skinner says the client wants to keep using their legacy protocol. I’m about 100% sure that the sim is going to obliterate it, and the ‘data’ will be compromised.” 

“Is the ‘client’ Uncle Sam?”

“Of course, I have no way of _knowing,”_ Alex temporized, “But yes, it’s military. They’re still operating on floppy disks in some parts of the Pentagon.”

“Holy hell.” 

“I know, right?” Alex took a minute to respond to an email. “For reference, I built a cloud server for fun that Evan had a friend in intelligence try to hack and he couldn’t.”

“Opposite ends of the information storage spectrum. And if you were wondering, building a cloud server for fun is why you’re a gigantic dork.”

“It had encrypted files of our worst song lyrics from college.”

Michael crowed with laughter and had to slap his own hand over his mouth to shut himself up. “Those files need to remain encrypted. The crap we wrote freshman year might need to burn.”

“We can put them on floppy disks…”

“Yah, that’s where they belong. Do you have a computer anywhere in this building that even has a floppy drive?”

“Nope. Most of the computers don’t have CD or DVD drives, forget a floppy drive.”

“That’s what I figured.”

“No one even knows why the save icon is a floppy disk anymore.” 

Michael watched Alex go through his desk drawers for a second. “I wonder if they’ve added flash drives to the computer museum at UNM?”

“They’re not extinct yet.” Alex set a box on the desk. “Here, my fossil collection.”

“You have 5 and a quarter floppies in your desk?”

“Look at this, it’s a punch card.”

“Gigantic. Dork.”

“Rewritable magnetic tape?”

“Dork on a cellular level.”

Alex grinned. “Kinda like your antique tools in the garage.”

“Okay, that’s fair.”

“I also have a box of old drives in the storage closet. Tape drives look exactly like tape players.”

“Do you maybe have a dork chromosome?”

“Probably, you can tell because it’s in binary.” He put the box away. “It’s almost 5.”

Michael smiled, excited. “I’m really looking forward to seeing San Francisco with you, baby.”

“Me too,” Alex answered, smiling softly. 

The drive to Albuquerque was annoying, since it was prime traffic time, there were only two highways that connected one side of the city to the other. Fortunately, though, the Albuquerque airport wasn’t huge or time consuming, and they made it through security with plenty of time.

“Okay, I’m excited to go to San Francisco with you, but I’m almost more excited that I get to fly again.”

Alex laughed. “Okay, we have to take more vacations just so you can fly.”

“I kinda want to skydive.”

“I kinda didn’t join the Air Force to avoid it.”

“Lame.”

“I like having use of both of my legs.”

“You’d be just as cute with one leg.”

“That’s the weirdest compliment I’ve ever gotten.”

The flight wasn’t full, and they got the row to themselves, so they could both watch the lights of Albuquerque fade out of view relatively comfortably. As cuddly as they both were, they left the center seat between them so they could stretch out a little. It was a short flight between Albuquerque and Los Angeles, and neither of them broke out technology to stave off boredom, just holding hands and looking out the window. 

They learned that LAX was really big. Hour and a half layover? Just barely enough time to get to their gate. But the flight to San Francisco was only an hour. That flight was full, and Alex took the center seat so they could sit together rather than having a stranger between them. They arrived tired and hungry, but still exhilarated; they were in a new place and had days to explore.

“Let’s get an Uber to the B&B,” Michael suggested. “I have no desire to navigate public transit tonight.”

“You’re a genius.” Alex pulled out is phone. “Our car is on the way.”

Parker Guest House was _adorable._ It was after 11pm, but they were used to guests checking in close to midnight, and they even suggested ordering from a local deli that delivered late. After long work days, flights, layovers, and big sandwiches, they collapsed into lavender-scented sheets and passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love flying so much. Everyone else I know hates it, but I love it. One time I was flying back to San Diego from San Jose, and we flew over Disneyland during the fireworks and that was so cool I can't really describe it. They look so small from up that high!

**Author's Note:**

> I added the gratuitous smut tag for a reason!


End file.
